Conventional approaches to tracking rescuers are based on wireless communications from walkie talkies or radio handsets carried by the rescue personnel. Specifically, the locations of the rescue personnel are solely determined by voice responses or visual sightings from the various members of the rescue team. In order for the rescue team members to accurately relay to the team coordinator their locations, the team member must have an a priori understanding of the layout of the rescue environment. For example, in a fire rescue scenario, the rescue team members assess the number of floors, access points, hallways, stairwells, and other structurally related configurations in the building under fire before entering the building.
It is not uncommon for rescuers to become disorientated, either from a lack of familiarity with the building layout or smoke, so as to result in the rescuer's incorrect assessment of their location. Further, in hazardous rescue situations, it is also not uncommon for the rescuer himself to be rendered incapable of providing his location either through equipment failure or the rescuer becoming unconscious.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide systems and methods which enable the tracking of rescuers within a rescue environment, without requiring voice responses or the rescuer's familiarity of the rescue environment layout.